No Place Like Home
by dancingthroughrain
Summary: Vanellope had gone through so much to get to stay in Slaughter Race, but she can't help but doubt her actions. Did she make the right choice? (Alternate ending to Ralph Breaks the Internet)


_Welcome to my first and probably only installment of "wir2 canon did vanellope (and ralph) dirty so im fixing it"!_

_Just a quick disclaimer that it's been over a year or so since I've written fanfic, so apologies if this isn't great! But hey it can't be more ooc than wir2 was amiright_

_There are a few more notes at the end that I feel make more sense after reading this._

_Happy 7th(!) anniversary to the first (and more superior) movie!_

* * *

"I love you so much. I'm really gonna miss you."

"I'm gonna miss you too, kid. I really am."

She didn't want to let go. Ironic, considering that the moment she stepped into Slaughter Race, she never wanted to leave. Now, she never wanted to enter, not if it meant saying goodbye to Ralph. To her best friend.

"Alright…" Ralph began with a subtle pat on her back, causing her to hold on tighter. She wasn't ready for their goodbyes to end.

But she had to be ready. Her newfound dream of being part of Slaughter Race came with a hefty price, and she knew that from the beginning — she'd simply overlooked how much it would hurt.

Ralph had known from the start that it would hurt. He'd tried to prevent it, nearly costing them their lives. But he'd accepted it, realizing that no matter how badly it hurt, Vanellope would be happy. Despite the pain, he let her go.

That was what she wanted, wasn't it? For him to let her go so that she could live her dream.

So why were doubts swimming through her mind as she released her grip on his plaid shirt, allowing him to officially let her go?

Why couldn't she let _him_ go?

"Okay, getting a little clingy on me, here." Ralph continued, setting her on the ground. Vanellope smiled at the irony of his words. Her eyes were watering, and tears nearly fell as he affectionately brushed her round cheek with his finger. "Go on, get outta here. The world's waitin' for ya, kid."

The girl wiped away her tears, smiling wider as his encouragement chased her doubts away. Her dream game was waiting for her, ready for her wanderlust to explore its every secret and race her worries away.

She scurried to the stairs leading up to Slaughter Race, but couldn't help but turn back to look at her best friend, watching her run off, his heart swelling with a mixture of pride and sorrow. This was it, it was really happening. She was about to step into her dream game, her new home. She waved to her best friend as she ascended up the stairs, not wanting the moment to end — but it had to. Her new home was waiting for her.

As soon as Ralph was out of sight, she found herself wanting to run back to him. As much as she wanted change in her repetitive life, seeing her best friend everyday was the one thing that she didn't mind keeping constant. After six years of almost always being together, suddenly, she would rarely see him. It was a gut wrenching realization, and a glitch rippled through Vanellope as said realization hit her.

She should be nothing but excited. There was a whole new, unpredictable world that held her dreams waiting for. That was what she had wanted for quite some time now, and she finally had it. And yet, the little racer couldn't help but feel doubt creep into her code. Had she made the right choice, leaving her game, her friends, her old life behind? Had she rushed into things in the rush of the moment? Sure, Slaughter Race was cool, awesome, even! But… did she really want it to be her whole life at the cost of leaving her family?

...

Stop.

Stop overreacting. Deep breath. Everything would be fine. It's normal to have these doubts, her life just did a full 180 in less than a day! It's okay to be nervous. What mattered was that she overcame those doubts and lived her dream.

The world was waiting for her.

* * *

Homesickness; something Vanellope never acknowledged. She'd never had the need to, as she was always home, always racing in her game or spending time with her best friend. But after a week had passed since saying goodbye to her old life, homesickness was all she felt. Not to confuse it with not liking Slaughter Race; it was probably the most exciting, action packed game she'd ever been to, and she loved every bit of it. But the feeling that possessed her, that feeling that made her long for the familiarity of the arcade was becoming too strong to ignore.

At first, she'd summed it up to needing to adjust to what would be her new normal. But as she found herself unable to shake off her desire to go home, she grew conflicted. This was what she'd wanted, wasn't it? A game that was unpredictable and thrilling, a game that satisfied all of her desires the way that Slaughter Race was doing.

Why was she longing for the repetitive routine of the arcade when all she'd wanted to do was be rid of it?

Because it was home. As foreseeable is it was, it was home. Vanellope loved Slaughter Race, and it had felt like home since the moment she stepped foot in it, but… it wasn't the arcade.

It felt like _a_ home. Someone else's home that she was welcomed into.

But it wasn't _her home_.

From her place on the hood of her car, Vanellope looked out at the place called Slaughter Race. From the hill she could see everything. The sunset was gorgeous, mesmerizing, even.

But not as beautiful as the sunrise at the arcade. Not as warm, physically or mentally. The presence of someone beside her was missing. Ralph was missing.

Ralph.

Vanellope wondered how he was doing. They'd video chatted the day after their goodbyes, and had planned their weekly calls to ensure that they would stay in touch. They'd also planned a day for him to visit her and vise versa. At the time it didn't seem like it would be that long, but now…

She untucked the broken sugar cookie medal from under her sweatshirt and held it gingerly in her hands. Six years ago she'd made it, and even after all that time, Ralph never took it off. It was undoubtedly his most prized possession.

And she'd broken it.

She'd tossed it angrily off a ledge after discovering that he'd released a virus into Slaughter Race in hopes that it would make her want to come home. She'd been so hurt by his actions, appalled that he would do such a thing.

He had made a decent argument, but Vanellope was too blinded by fury to listen. She was going to up and leave her game without telling him. Well, she _was_ planning on telling him, but it was true that she had left her game behind. She hadn't spoken to the racers since their game had been unplugged. Had she even considered Ralph's feelings, or the racers' for that matter?

No, she hadn't. She'd blamed the whole ordeal on Ralph. Looking back, an overwhelming, yet familiar wave of guilt told her that perhaps she had been at fault too. The same guilt she'd felt when she'd first considered staying at Slaughter Race. All she saw was Ralph everywhere she looked, the guilt so strong that it had taken over her control over her glitch. A small glitch rippled through her then, not as intense as it had been last time she was overcome with guilt, but the feeling stronger.

But this was her dream game, her heart fought against the guilt. How was she supposed to tell them that she didn't want to return to the arcade? Perhaps it had been selfish of her to want to take the easy route and not tell them, but she was one in _fifteen_ racers! They had been perfectly fine without her for fifteen years, why would they care if they had to run the game without her again? And although it had taken a near death experience to come to terms with her wishes, Ralph had accepted her decision to stay in Slaughter Race. Besides, he seemed content with his new life without her at the arcade. He still had Felix, Calhoun, and everyone from Bad Anon. Sure, he had been upset when he first discovered that she didn't want to return, but he was fine.

At least, he seemed fine.

_Seemed _fine.

Oh, who was she kidding? There was no way he had been able to completely be rid of his insecurities, his love for the paradise he lived with his best friend. He'd simply let her go and put his own sadness aside for her happiness to thrive. And she'd let him put her needs first.

Perhaps _she _had been the one acting like a bad friend. A selfish friend.

Much too late, his want to keep their daily routine going finally became her want. Of course, she still had a hunger for spice in her life. But maybe changing her life completely wasn't the right way.

Had she made a mistake?

"Thought I'd find you here."

The sudden disruption of silence made Vanellope jump and glitch flicker, having been too lost in thought to have heard the approaching footsteps, "Geez _Louise_, warn a girl next time, would ya?"

"Even if I did, I don't think you would have noticed," Shank replied with a quiet laugh, sitting next to Vanellope on the hood of her car. "What's going on, V?"

Vanellope shrugged as if she didn't know exactly what thoughts were wracking through her brain. "Nothin'," she said, hugging her knees to her chest. "Just… thinking, I guess."

Shank tilted her head to look at Vanellope, "What about?"

Another shrug. "Everything. Nothing." she sighed in defeat, resting her chin on her knees. "Ralph."

"You miss him, don't you?" the woman beside her asked. There was no harshness in her voice, no jealousy or distaste; only genuine understanding.

"More than _anything_. I mean," she whipped her head to face shank, holding her hands up defensively, "don't get me wrong, you and the gang are awesome and I love it here! But…"

"But it's not home," Shank finished for her.

Vanellope hesitated, words of denial on the tip of her tongue. But those words would be lies. She deflated with a quiet sigh, hands falling to rest on her knees. "Not like Game Central Station was."

Silence fell between them, nothing but the gentle breeze blowing past their ears to be heard. It wasn't necessarily a comfortable silence, but there was no heavy weight hanging between them.

"We love having you here, too, V," Shank finally said, looking down at the little racer, "but I think we both know where you want to be." she smiled.

Vanellope looked up at the brunette, facial features twisted in conflict. "But… Slaughter Race is home, too." she protested, "I mean, it's not _home_, but it's… home." she groaned in frustration, "This doesn't make any sense, does it?"

Shank shrugged, "Who says that _both_ can't be home?" she nudges Vanellope's shoulder with her elbow. "No one's stopping you from staying here every now and then while you live in Sugar Rush. You know you're always welcome here, little sister, no matter where you decide to stay."

Vanellope paused. She… hadn't really considered that, oddly enough. Maybe she just needed a happy medium, a way to keep the old life she loved, but add enough change to keep her wanderlust content. Enough change to keep things constant for Ralph, but enough change to keep their lives exciting.

"Wait a minute…" Vanellope exclaimed, her usual pep resurfacing. "That's it! Shank, you're a genius!"

* * *

_C'mon, kid, pick up_…

Ralph tapped his foot impatiently on the ground, snapping his phone shut as he was, for what felt like the dozenth time, sent to voicemail.

He couldn't reason out the concerned voice yelling at him in the back of his mind that something was off. Normally, he was able to shut that voice up long enough for Vanellope to arrive; but that had been when she was living at the arcade and when he always knew where to find her if she was running late. But now that she lived in the internet, there were no logical reasons he could use to quiet the voice. The internet was so big, she could be literally anywhere. At Slaughter Race, at Oh My Disney, eBay… literally _anywhere_. And he had no way of knowing when she wasn't picking up her phone, even though this was their planned weekly time to video chat and catch up.

She always answered his calls, and he always answered hers. They never missed one another, not unless…

Unless something was wrong.

That thought alone was enough to spring off the bench he usually sat on during their calls and run towards the wi-fi outlet. There were just too many unpredictable things that could have happened to the kid, to _his_ kid, too many places for her to be unable to regenerate should something go wrong. Even if everything turned out to be fine and Vanellope had simply been busy, he couldn't take his chances and wait.

A loud buzzing stopped him in his tracks and dragged him from his thoughts. _Oh, for the love of..._

"Step aside, sir, random security check."

Ralph groaned. Thankfully, he was no longer stopped every single time he entered or exited a game anymore, but _un_-thankfully, it did seem to happen at the worst of times.

"Does your 'bad guy sensor' double as a 'bother people at the worst times possible' sensor?" Ralph asked, annoyed, hands on his hips.

"Just a surge protector —"

"Doin' your job, I know, I know," Ralph sighed. "Can you speed it up? I'm kinda on my way to —"

"_Ralph!_"

Ralph cut himself off when he heard an echo of his name. He looked over Surge and into the tunnel behind him that led to the internet.

"_Ralph!_" he heard again, only clearer. A flicker of blue were seen at the end of the tunnel, suddenly halfway through the tunnel in the blink of an eye. Who could…?

"_Kid?_"

"Ralph!"

"Kid!" he ran past Surge Protector, ignoring both his and the alarm's blare of protest. Once the flickering silhouette was identified as his best friend, what little patience he'd had left was out the window.

"Vanellope!" he exclaimed as she glitched into his arms and immediately wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug, "You had me worried for a second there, kiddo," he admitted, giant hands ever so gently resting over her tiny frame to return the hug. "I thought you bailed on our weekly video call, heh… wait," he pulled back to look at Vanellope, "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at Slaughter Race?"

"I made a mistake," she blurted out.

"_What_?" Ralph exclaimed. Vanellope couldn't tell if he was angry, confused, or relieved. Probably a mix of all three. "But, kid, isn't Slaughter Race your dream game?"

"It was! And it still is!" she looked off to the side, growing nervous as she wasn't able to tell how he was feeling on the situation. "Don't get me wrong, I _love_ it there, and the internet is _so cool!_" she said as he placed her on the ground and knelt in front of her. "But I realized… living at Slaughter Race wasn't the answer to what I wanted. Not if it means leaving home forever." Vanellope tilted her head up to look at the wrecker, meeting his eyes. "Not if it means leaving _you_ forever. I'm so sorry I did that, Ralphie."

His unreadable expression shifted into a gentle smile, kind eyes focusing back at hers. "You couldn't have realized that _before_ we wrecked the internet?" he teased, gently nudging her shoulder with one of his fingers. "I'm glad to see you back here, kid. Everyone else will be, too. But," he looked at her seriously, "I don't want you to come back permanently just on our behalf, y'know? Only if you want to come back."

"More than anything." she admitted, an uncharacteristic statement for someone as emotionally guarded as she was. "I… I really missed you guys."

Ralph smirked, "You sure you won't get bored again?"

She chuckled sheepishly, "About that — I actually have an idea."

"Do tell, President Fart-Feathers."

"With pleasure, Major Body Odor!" she hopped onto his outstretched hand that led her to sit on his shoulder. "But first: ya wouldn't happen to know where Sarge, Felix, and the racers are, would ya?"

* * *

"I'm surprised the racers're still living with Sarge and Felix," Vanellope commented as they made their way into the penthouse. "I thought they'd drive 'em completely bonkers within the first hour."

Making light jokes on the situation was the only way to distract her from her racing heart; she couldn't help but be nervous at the possibility of their rejection. Really, she wouldn't blame them if they did; she'd completely up and left with no warning to them, and it had taken her a full week to come to her senses and realize her wrongings.

So, needless to say, she was surprised when all of the racers came and embraced her when they saw her enter the door.

"Vanellope!"

"We missed you!"

"Why'd you leave?"

"What's the internet like?"

A mixture of greetings and questions were thrown at Vanellope. Even Felix and Tamora joined them, the latter ruffling her hair while the other hugged her. The warm greetings and the fact that they had welcomed her back with no hesitation threatened to make her head spin.

Well, all but one racer.

When the commotion quieted down, Vanellope locked eyes with Taffyta. Glistening hazel met narrowed blue as the blonde glared at her, arms crossed.

"Look who decided to grace us with her presence," Taffyta sneered, "After not even _telling _us she was leaving."

"Listen, Taff, I —"

"No!" Taffyta interrupted, stepping closer to address the racers that surrounded the former glitch, "Are you guys really going to act like she didn't just up and _abandon_ us without so much as a word?"

Felix looked as if he was going to interject, but he wasn't quick enough.

"You may have _them_ fooled," she began, one hand clenched at her side and the other poking at her chest, "but _I_ won't be so easily persuaded. You think you can just waltz back in here without so much as an _apology?_"

"If you would just _listen_ I _would!_"

Vanellope's outburst silenced Taffyta, and Felix's, "Just give her a chance," kept the blonde quiet.

"Look, I know what I did was wrong," Vanellope began, the sincerity in her voice catching Taffyta off guard; she'd expected a quick 'I'm sorry' and a joke or two, but that clearly wasn't what she was getting. "I can't tell you why I did it 'cause… well, I don't have a good reason. I thought moving on to some place more exciting was my dream, but," she shrugged and shoved her hands into a hoodie pocket, offering a small smile, "turns out entirely changing your life on a whim doesn't solve all your problems. Heck, it just causes more."

Though wearing a softer expression, Taffyta still seemed dead set on living by her original accusations. Vanellope sighed.

"I'm not expecting you to forgive me, Taff." she told her, "I know what I did was wrong. All I'm asking for is a second chance."

"And why should I?" Taffyta scoffed.

Vanellope didn't like pulling this card, but desperate times called for desperate measures. With set determination, she looked Taffyta straight in the eyes, "I gave all of you guys one after the whole… you-know-what situation," she hated even mentioning it, "so _please_, give me one too."

Taffyta's hard look began to melt, and she looked to Felix and Tamora as if for advice.

"I made a mistake." Vanellope added, addressing everyone in the room. "Let me fix it."

Tamora spoke first, "We could never stay mad at you, little soldier," she said, ruffling the younger's hair, "Burger Time on you and we'll call it even."

The racers all followed suit in accepting her apology, all chattering over each other about how glad they were to have her back. She looked over to Taffyta who sighed and nodded. Vanellope emitted a sigh of relief.

"It's good to have you back, kiddo," Ralph smiled.

"It's good to be back, Stinkbrain." she smiled back.

"What's the internet like?!" Candlehead asked, tugging on Vanellope's arm.

"Can we have one of those phones that Ralph has?" Swizzle added, "It's _so_ cool!"

"I wanna go to the internet!"

"Me too!"

Questions kept getting thrown at her, and she almost had to yell to get their attention. "Woah, woah, woah, hold your horses, guys! One at a time! I'll tell ya all about it! But first…" she looked over at Felix and Ralph, "I need your help with something."

* * *

"Check it out, Swati!" Nafisa exclaimed, "A shortcut!"

Swati squinted at the screen, just barely making out a sign that said 'Hot Fudge Bog', "I don't know, Nafisa," she said worriedly, "Remember what happened last time we took a shortcut?"

"Yeah, but this one's different! Look, some of the other cars are going that way!" Nafisa exclaimed as she pointed at the screen, "Try it out! Hurry, before we miss it!"

"If you say so…"

* * *

Vanellope looked up at the first place trophy as it floated into her awaiting hands. She smiled, enthusiastically holding her fist out to the screen for the player to bump with their own fist. Turned out making their own track wasn't such a bad idea after all! The players who noticed it seemed to love it, and their good eye always worked to their advantage and landed them in the top three if they played their cards right. Overall, it was a great addition to Sugar Rush for both the players and the citizens of the game.

In hindsight, Ralph should've built it with Felix's assistance and the racers' input during closing hours the first time around. Though, the inspiration the racers got from their trips to the internet to look at Slaughter Race (with Vanellope's guidance, of course) and other racing games did help better the track and the gamers' interest in it.

Things had a weird way of working out. But despite all the hardships that originally came with it, Vanellope wouldn't change her decision for anything.

* * *

_A/N: My inspiration for this oneshot came from the fact that no one can tell me that Vanellope switching between the arcade and Slaughter Race/the internet wouldn't make more sense than just staying in Slaughter Race; if she does that, wouldn't her opinion on Slaughter Race eventually become what Sugar Rush eventually became for her? And I mean, what's stopping her from living her life at the arcade with her friends and family, then going to the internet when the arcade's closed? What's stopping her from bringing her friends along and exploring the internet with them every now and again? Wouldn't going back and forth make more sense than staying in one place? I could go on about this forever yall_

_Also, I wanted to include more felix and tam, but it was getting long and I wanted this out on time, so I made a sacrifice. (-disney 2018 lmao) Maybe someday I'll fix the injustice they gave Felix and Tam._


End file.
